Celestion Vintage 30

60 watt ceramic magnet speaker.

I'm pretty amazed at the mixed reviews the V30 has received here. Guitar tone is highly subjective to the player and listener. What I'm perceiving from many of these reviews is that the players who describe the V30 negatively are the ones who are after a very specific tone. To my ears, the V30 is as close to an actual high-fidelity speaker as it gets for guitar. That being the case, it won't fair especially well for those seeking the greenback mushy distortion, the G12H bottom/low mids or the G12T-75 slashy highs. Those, in my opinion, are specialty speakers and are suited to specific tonal characteristics. I?ve read the complaints of V30?s as overriding the tone of the amp. I think the V30 does have a noticeable sound print all its own, but so do they all. The V30 has the widest ?hearable? frequency response, and is the most balanced and honest sounding of the Celestion bunch, to my ears. The 15 Watt alnico blue is in a category all its own; a gorgeous and full sounding guitar speaker, I can?t overstate that, but not with the same over all hi-fi quality of the V30.

Never had a problem. Seems to be constructed very well.

Never needed them.

I believe that those who complain of ?flappy, honky, mid-boomy? tones from the V30 should take a closer look at their cabs, and also consider reconfiguring their amp eq settings. It could be that their amp and cab were designed to work with its stock speaker, or one with similar characteristics. In a well tuned cab, the V30 sounds crisp and even, tight lows, nice mids and pristine highs, clean or over driven. It isn?t a very forgiving speaker, though. What you play is what you hear.

One other thing. They really do take awhile to thoroughly break in, and they can sound sterile before that happens.

its a speaker so it has no channels or knobs or anything. I am running this in a 2 x 12 in a homemade semi-open cab. I am pushing it with a Fender Twin Reverb II (rivera era) that I re cabbed because of weight. I have it paired with a EV 12. all I can say is it does wonders for the tone of a Fender. I bought these used, but never out of the box...

I use a homemade strat-o-clone and a gibson 125tcd. I play mostly blues and blues rock (I do play some rock). when in the right cab running the right amp these are just wonderful. I have a very clean and kinda dark head. these give me a nice early break up and paired with the EV gives me great lows and stays very articulate. they are very effcient... that means loud. these handle a lot of power well and are very nice when you just practicing. this give a really nice cutting tone and works well with a band. I have been gigging for a while with it now and it never seems to wash out or mud up. let me be clear about this:

THIS IS NOT A METAL SPEAKER

I haven't blown it up yet. not that I'm trying

don't know... always worked

I love the tone and punch I get with my current set up all the lows with all the highs. nice balance when set up right. not sure if I ran then as a pair but they are wonderful in my set up, I wouldn't like them in something like a plexi or other high gain amps. I have been playing since 1965 and have been gigging since 1975... I love my tone now. I covers me well, I gan get to SRV or freddie king, duane allman or frank zappa.

Max. Power: 60 Watt. Large magnet (50 oz = 1.42 kg). It has a high sensitivity of 100 dB, that means that the speaker is very loud.

I use this Speaker in a selfmade Box (1/4 of the back is open), with a Mesa Boogie 50/50 power amp and a Digitech 2112 Preamp. This combination is very versatile. Maybe not for Jazz, but for most contemporary styles.
The speaker has a very accurate and fast response. The sound is pretty aggressive in the upper mid-range. Many people talk about an annoying "honk" at 800Hz. Well, I like that sound and it is really good in competition with the snare drum.
I don't have that speaker for to long, so I don't give a rating.

I have Celestions in all of my Amps/Cabs. Didn't ever have a problem.

classic 12" Speaker. Very loud.

Here is the big mistake some people made: The Vintage 30 is NOT the build in speaker of the silver jubile Marshalls. The jubilee series build in speaker is horrible sounding and no comparison to the real V30. There is only Vintage written on the label NOT Vintage 30. I had a 2554 and a Little Fatty combo which both sounded awful with this speaker but installing a real V30 made them sound very good. I also changed the stock JBLs from my 1972 Twin Reverb with V30s and it's a killer blues sound with my loved 1960 Strat but also with my VR Telecaster. This speaker doesn't has a mid honk. It handels all sounds from ultra clean to high gain like no other. I also replaced the stock speaker from my Blues Junior (the worst one I've ever seen/heard. Cheap Emminence) with a V30 and this made the amp gigable. But the Blues Junior isn't a vell made amp so it died after a few gigs. Now this V30 is in a 4210 Marshall Combo and it's much better than the stock G12T-70. Don't get me wrong: the G12T-70 isn't a bad speaker it is much better than the crap they sold the 2554 with, but it hasn't the quality of a V30. I think that some people don't like the V30 may be a result of using cheap stock tubes. Use quality NOS tubes and get your V30s alive.

It's a celestion.

Never dealt with them.

The one and only.

It is loud with an upper midrange punch.

I don't like this speaker in combos, but I like them in cabinets.

A Vintage 30 came in my Gibson Goldtone GA-15RV which is a 1x12 El-84- based amp. I hated how punchy and honky it was. It was really "in your face". It made the amp sound "boxy", especially at higher volumes. Another reviewer mentioned an 800Hz tone. That is exactly the frequency I found offensive. You see, I added an EQ pedal to my signal chain and I tried different settings to get a decent clean sound. I found that lowering the 800Hz slider did the trick.

I noticed that a Rivera Chubster combo I once tried had similar tone. At loud volumes it was too punchy, honky.

In constrast, I think the Vintage 30 sounds good in cabinets. I once tried an older high gain VHT amp through a Top Hat cab with Vintage 30 and it sounded great.

I also put a Vintage 30 in my Mesa 1x12 3/4 back cab and I play my Gibson Goldtone through that. That gives me a rich clean sound and a nice distortion sound. I'm assuming the bassiness of a cabinet seems to balance out the upper midrange spikiness of the speaker.


Comparison to other speakers I've used:

- Mesa Black Shadow (similar to Celestion Classic 80 I guess).
Vintage 30 has more bass and mids. Sounds better in my Mesa cab than the Mesa speaker.

- Speaker from Crate Vintage Club amp
(supposedly it is Eminence's version of the celestion Greenback).
Vintage 30 is quite a bit darker.

- Celestion G12H-30 (70th anniversary reissue)
Vintage 30 has less bass. More upper mids.

- Weber California
The Weber California is a lot more "neutral" than the Vintage 30.
I suppose the Vintage 30 imparts its tone on your amp while the
Weber California doesn't.

It's a speaker . . .

I want to modify my earlier review: I've gigged with the Vintage 30s a couple of shows now and I want to throw my vote in the direction of those who say this speaker takes over everything else. They're great for clean and one-note stuff like leads, but they're obnoxious for power chords and drop D. Nothing but midrange! And the "honk" gets worse with volume. I stuck a G12T-75 back in my Marshall 1936 cabinet to try and get some of the scooped crunch back, and I think that was a step in the right direction. Might eventually go with the ever-emerging V30/Greenback combo.

Read all of these reviews before buying them. Ignore the retail sites and the guitar magazine write ups. If possible, go to your local music store and try them, but be sure to crank 'em up and see if you like the honk they give. Some do . . .

8 or 16ohms heavy magnet

If your after a bluesy or vintage Marshall tone these are the last(and I mean last)thing you want,they have a midrange honk to them that will make a great amp sound bad and a weak amp unplayable.I have one in a Marshall Silver Jubilee 1x12 combo and the amp actually sounds chinsy w/ this speaker.I tried it on a 2210 channel switcher and same thing.Just a horrible speaker.Very shouting,all your notes attacks will be in your face,very harsh and "bonky" sounding.Literally my Jubilee resembles a Roland cube 60(terrible solid state amp)when played though the V30.Makes the amp sound boxy sounding all the midrange sounds like theres a Wah midsweep but REALLY pronounced.I use a greenabck loaded 4x12 and this same amp sounds fabulous live.
I would highly NOT recomend this speaker to ANYONE!!They say there so so for high gain but the G12T-75 is a better choice for metal type playing.I would seriously recomend one of Celestions lower-end speakers(Silver series V12-60 etc..) over this.

Well mine hasn't blown(but I'll be working on that)LOL.

No rating

Terrible!!!God awful terrible.I have been playing 11yrs playing in gigging rock bands every weekend.Played a year in a National act.And practice everyday.I have played though many Celestion speakers and this is by far THE worst speaker I've ever heard for guitar bar none.I've tried everything including removing the doping on the cone suround and its still terrible.Makes my amp sound like its in a box.My bassist says it sounds like its in a tunnel.Only thing going for it is I can't get it to blow up.Mine will be coming out of my amp and going into a vocal monitor for rehearsal.

I use a Mesa-Boogie 50-cal Plus in a three-piece power trio that plays classic and alternative rock covers. We play small to medium-sized clubs, and my cabinet is always miked, even in the dinkiest venues, so I never take the master volume past "2." Usually have the gain at "7" and use guitar's volume pot to shape the sound. I also have a ProCo Turbo Rat I step on for "that extra push over the cliff" when required.

My main guitar is a stock Les Paul. I stuck Vintage 30s in my Marshall 1936 cabinet as replacements for the G12T-75s. The V30s are definitely cleaner and more focused across the clean-distortion spectrum compared to the G12T-75s. The V30s have a very distinct growl (what others have described here as a "honk"). I play a lot of power chord/open chord stuff and I think the V30 is the right speaker for that sort of style. I'm also happy with the attitude the V30s give to my leads; they more readily leap out of the mix now. As others have suggested, anyone in the market would be well advised to go up the Celestion website and listen to the sound samples there, short and limited as they are.

No problems so far, but I've only had them a short time.

Like I said, I'm satisfied with the switch, but like all tone junkies, the search never ends. The only other thing I might try at this point is the V30-Greenback combo, although I think the Greenback might get killed by the Mesa-Boogie head I'm using. If only my wife would let me get that Budda head I've had my eye on . . .

Bottom line: If you play medium- or high-gain stuff and are using a Marshall with G12T-75s, you'd probably be happier with V30s.

Its a speaker!

I'm using a Jackson Dinky with Evolution pickups. Homemade 4X12 sealed and 2x12 semi open back cambs. I wish I never bought 6 of these things. But when your young and you have under developed ears you do things like this.

They have this grany texture that I hate. They are mid heavy. And the high end rolls of quite a bit. I love mids but not these kinds of mids. My amp (ENGL Powerball) I keep the mids at 5 with the bass and treble at 10. I think you get the biggest overall sound with the 10 5 10 configuration on any amp.

I think metallica uses these and alot of nu-metal bands with their boogie cabs and such. I use to like metallicas sound back in the day untill I got into Zakk Wylde. He loads hes cabs with the EV 12L's and this is about the biggest sound I have heard. I am in love with the EV's clearness. Even though I never tryed and EV yet I am willing to bet they are everything a vintage 30 is not. CLEAN WITH HUGE BASS AND BITTING MIDS. SRV is also rumored to use the EV12ls.

If anyone wants to sell me some EV's or talk amps please E-mail me. I love tone.

Never had a problem

Never tryed.

Over all I would describe these as "Weak" "Thing" "Unclear" "Pussy" "Muddy" BLAH!

I hope I can find a non celestion speaker that will reck any of the celestion models soon. I love my amp and guitar but I hate these. Speakers are the only thing I need to get my sound dammit!! >:O

12" guitar speakers 8 or 16ohms.

Frankly I hate these speakers!!I play a low gain clean,power tube distortion,Marshall tone.These speakers will give a beutiful snappy lead tone with this type of sound.Very snappy but will not do sweet singing warm bluesy lead tones. BUT!!!The rythm tone is ungodly terrible.There is like a 800Hz Honk to it it sounds like its in a box and has a very AWWNNNKKKY tone.Very annoying.Now for High gain playing it might be OK but its still a middy speaker.this is the stock speaker in in My 1x12 Silver Jubilee combo.I plan on replacing it w/ either and Eminence Private Jack or GB12

Very durable.I wish it would blow I hate it that much

Great if all you want it a snappy lead tone.But it don't sing to ya and it honks at ya,when ya play stacato rythms.